The real history of the Hungarian environmental movement is much
more complex than it appears in some Western newspapers, or as it has
been interpreted to the international public by some of its participants,
who sometimes mix their individual experience with the entire process.
There are also some misunderstandings about the role of the environmental challenges in the politico-economic development of Eastern
Europe. Some basic arguments, which will be detailed in this paper,
are as follows:

1. Although environmental degradation is an increasingly severe
problem and environmental factors played a unique role in the great
Hungarian and East European historical changes of 1988-89, the current social basis of environmentalism is quite limited. Rumors about a
strong environmental movement in Hungary are false.